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NEWTs to Become a Potions Master

What NEWTs do you think a student would take if they wanted to be a potions master? What post-Hogwarts work do you think they would have to do?

I know potions, of course, would be required and I was thinking Herbology too, since that's where you get your ingredients. Care of Magical Creatures maybe?

And after Hogwarts, I was thinking an apprenticeship and then they'd have to produce some new potion perhaps? Or pass some sort of test? Submit some form saying they completed the apprenticeship to the Ministry to become a certified potions master?

Potions, of course, would have to be the main focus, and I also imagine nothing below an Excellent would be accepted. And Acceptable might be a suitable grade for someone who career would have potions be a very minor part of the job, but if they wanted to be a Potions Master, like I said, at least an Excellent.

You also have to think about the amount of training that is needed in order to become a Potions Master. I don't think Snape was a Death Eater as a full-time job. It is possible that he was an apprentice on the side (no one really advertised their membership, I think, though). A lot of people seem to think a person would need to have some sort of apprenticeship under their wings before they could be considered a full-fledged Potions Master, and I think this makes a lot of sense. All the teachers likely had to do a great deal of research into the subject of their teaching before they would be allowed to become a Hogwarts professor.

But Snape was kind of bullied into it, so he might prove to be a special case.

As far as additional subjects, like Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, I don't think they would be necessary exactly, but having these subjects under a candidate's belt would certainly put them a cut above other people applying to become apprentices under a Potions Master. I also don't think as high a grades would be needed as long as they passed the test, but as with anything, the higher the grade, the better.

Thanks. Very helpful. I'm trying to figure out what other subjects would be useful. I've been browsing the lexicon, and I think Astronomy might help since one of the ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion is "fluxweed picked at full moon". I'm assuming other potions have star/moon related requirements as well.

Yes, that could also be a possibility as well. Something else you could take into consideration is the need to study subjects outside what is taught at Hogwarts.

For example, in the United State, school can teach dozens of electives, so I reflected that in the American wizarding schools I created in my stories. One of the elective classes I had offered at one of my schools was Minerology, the study of how stones can be used in relation to magic. That is something that might also be a bit of useful knowledge for a potential Potions Master, even if they have to study it for themselves.

Something else that might be of use to Potions Masters would be to go to different countries to study how potions are brewed outside of the western European tradition. For example, there are some Voodoo practictioners who know how to brew potions from pufferfish livers that can put people into a near comatose state, fooling people into thinking that person is dead and having them buried alive. That is actually where the whole zombie legend comes from. In fact, I believe that is also a main reason it became a tradition to hold wakes before a funeral, so people could watch for any signs of life in the body.